Picking up right after the events of Part II, Jason (Richard Brooker) is still on the prowl for fresh victims.
Thankfully a van-full of horny teens and a local biker gang are enroute to a nearby house.
Time to upgrade the wardrobe and get down to business…
Shot in 3D, Friday the 13th Part 3 suffered from the limitations of the format - the acting is sloppy, the characters are barely archetypes and the whole film is overlit in such a specific way that it renders the whole film as a live-action cartoon.
Perversely , it is these uncanny qualities, this plasticity of form and substance, which makes it enjoyable. I think Part II is a better movie, but Part 3’s broad, garish sensibility fits what the franchise was going to become. THe original movie had structured its story as a murder mystery, while the sequel adopts a more suspenseful format, where the viewer is aware of the killer’s presence and identity. Part 3 is the series stripped to its essentials, its most base form: a collection of teens arrive and are dispatched by Jason in bright, near primary colours.
Jason also gains his iconic hockey mask, which fits with the film’s blunter, comic book-style aesthetics.
The thinness of the characterisation is compensated for by variety of archetypes - final girl, nerd, tough girl, randy couple, hippies, slovenly older people, and - most memorably - the biker gang who look like they stepped out of either The Warriors or a Death Wish sequel.
The film’s veneer of unreality and escapism is probably augmented by a shift in location: while the first two films were filmed on the east coast, Part 3 was shot in California.
This means no more dark greens and mist; hello sunshine and a man-made lake that had to be constantly re-filled during filming.
The process might have been detrimental to the production, but the 3D compositions are still striking, and even flat, they add to the sense of this being an over-the-top thrill ride.
There is something unsettling about the primary colours (necessary for the 3D process) and overlit photography. Once Jason’s rampage gets underway in the third act, the film takes on the feeling of a daylight nightmare.
While some disown it, the disco-infused main title theme is the perfect segue into this film’s uniquely two-dimensional universe.
Part 3 is also notable as director Steve Miner’s final turn as the franchise’s director.
Sean S. Cunningham may have got the ball rolling, but Miner was the filmmaker who defined the direction the series would take.
Part 3 is a step down from his first stab (har har), but in its own scrappy way is a perfect farewell for the filmmaker who brought Jason back to life, and essentially created the icon we know today.
Based on its reputation I was dreading Part 3, but on this initial viewing it became my favourite of the first three movies. There is something about the formula story refracted through the production and the acting style that makes it stand out.
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